Public oversight proposal for Cal Am water supply project clears first hurdle

A proposal aimed at providing oversight for California American Water's water supply project has been approved by the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority.

By a unanimous vote, the authority board adopted the public governance committee concept late Wednesday, and directed attorney Russ McGlothlin to send letters to the state Public Utilities Commission and Cal Am regarding the proposal, said authority board chairman Chuck Della Sala.

Della Sala, who served on an ad hoc committee with Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett that came up with the plan, said the concept was intended to answer CPUC administrative law judge Gary Weatherford's invitation to area public agencies to come up with a proposal for direct participation in the water supply project's desalination plant.

The proposal still has to be approved by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and the county Board of Supervisors.

In a ruling last month, Weatherford set an Oct. 1 deadline for the proposals and directed Cal Am to consider any plan that is "feasible and sufficiently developed to allow implementation in a timely manner."

Cal Am has proposed a $400 million water supply project that includes a desal plant north of Marina combined with aquifer storage and recovery, and groundwater replenishment projects. The overall project is designed to provide a replacement source of water for the Peninsula, which is facing a state?ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River that takes full effect at the end of 2016.

The authority's public governance proposal calls for a three-person committee designed to include members from the authority, the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, and the county with varying degrees of influence over virtually every aspect of the Cal Am project. It would be charged with helping coordinate everything from the design, permitting and construction of the plant to its operations and maintenance. The committee would receive regular project updates from Cal Am and provide consultation and advice, including recommendations.

Under the proposal, the committee would serve variously as the ultimate "decider" on certain issues, have an equal say as Cal Am on some and serve in an advisory role on others.

The ad hoc subcommittee fashioned the proposal in private meetings that included officials from Cal Am and the water management district, whose board will consider the proposal on Monday. The proposal calls for the water management district to offer assistance in accessing low-cost public financing for the project and to consider owning and operating the desal plant if necessary.

County supervisors, who just agreed to join the authority on Tuesday and contribute to its budget months after being invited, have not set a date to consider the proposal.

Supervisor Dave Potter, who was appointed as the county's representative to the authority board, did not attend Wednesday's meeting because of a conflict.

Potter, who said he sat in on one of the ad hoc subcommittee discussions last week but wasn't aware of the proposal's details, said he expects the board to consider the proposal soon. He said he is hopeful the proposal can offer a vital role for the public in the project that has been missing.

Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie said the authority's proposal would require "further review" from company officials, who would work with authority representatives to "discuss concerns and a potential point of agreement." The key, she said, is ensuring that nothing delays the project or jeopardizes its financing.

The company is required to file a report to the CPUC on any public participation proposals by Oct. 26.

George Riley, a member of the authority's technical advisory committee, said he was concerned the proposal was more a method to accommodate Cal Am rather than offer real public oversight that represents the Peninsula's interests, including lowest cost project options.

Also Wednesday, the authority board considered a preliminary report from SPI, the consultant hired to conduct a comparison study of the three desal proposals, including Cal Am's along with the People's Desal Project and Deep Water Desal. The report found each of the projects has obstacles that can be overcome and recommended studying all three in more depth.